Atemas
UK Tour Guide
- Location
- North Cambridgeshire
Holly
- Thread starter Hollysdad
- Start date
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
Thinking of you too.
Sending lots of positive thoughts your way and hoping things improve for Holly xx
Hope things settle and become stable(ish) soon.
Lots of love and big licks from down under to Holly
Lots of love and big licks from down under to Holly
Naya
Moderator
- Location
- Bristol, UK
Really hope things improve soon for Holly. I can only imagine how much life has changed for her in such a short time. I’m glad she’s still able to have some walks still
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
We’ve just had a long session with the vet.
We decided that it was too early to involve a specialist. He describes Holly as a ‘complex case’ as there are are several things going on, but we’re at the stage of finding the balance between the treatments.
The good news: heart rate has stabilised at around 100, down from 160, and the murmur is much reduced. Appetite and the Labrador joie de vivre are very much present.
Less good news: Her breathing rate is all over the place from shallow 30 to deep at 60 with no discernable pattern. We’ve had a few deep coughs in the last 24 hours. Her breathing sounds laboured at times, and he heard signs of fluid on her lungs.
The heart drugs are doing a good job so we’ll leave them alone. We’ll keep on the antibiotics to try and clear up any residual infection. We’re adding a diuretic to try to manage the build-up of fluid, starting with a medium dose but reviewing next week to see if we can reduce it.
We decided that it was too early to involve a specialist. He describes Holly as a ‘complex case’ as there are are several things going on, but we’re at the stage of finding the balance between the treatments.
The good news: heart rate has stabilised at around 100, down from 160, and the murmur is much reduced. Appetite and the Labrador joie de vivre are very much present.
Less good news: Her breathing rate is all over the place from shallow 30 to deep at 60 with no discernable pattern. We’ve had a few deep coughs in the last 24 hours. Her breathing sounds laboured at times, and he heard signs of fluid on her lungs.
The heart drugs are doing a good job so we’ll leave them alone. We’ll keep on the antibiotics to try and clear up any residual infection. We’re adding a diuretic to try to manage the build-up of fluid, starting with a medium dose but reviewing next week to see if we can reduce it.
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
Holly, you go girl!
Keep your parents on their toes.
Sending and
Keep your parents on their toes.
Sending
and 
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Good to hear that there is some movement in a positive direction! Good girl, Holly! 
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
That sounds like some really good steps in the right direction. Especially that "the Labrador joie de vivre is very much present"! 
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
She still wants to play ‘chase me’ for toys but gets out of breath. We’ve started playing ‘walking chase’ games which last much longer.That sounds like some really good steps in the right direction. Especially that "the Labrador joie de vivre is very much present"!
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
We were back at the vet for a check-up on Friday. Heart rate is up to 120 from 100, which is worrying. Breathing is still erratic with good days and bad days. She's still the same old Holly and wants to do all her normal things but runs out of steam after about 30-40 minutes walking.
Last week she showed a slight cough due to fluids building up in her lungs so we tried to introduce a diuretic. The first pill made her incontinent within a couple of hours. She was really miserable. We didn't administer the second dose but rang the vet and decided to skip it for a couple of days so the drug would clear her system. We then adminstered a half dose, which made her incontinent again so we stopped.
On Friday we changed drugs and, so far, she's been dry. She's also started coughing again so this one doesn't seem to be doing very much. We'll stick with it for a few days and see what happens.
Last week she showed a slight cough due to fluids building up in her lungs so we tried to introduce a diuretic. The first pill made her incontinent within a couple of hours. She was really miserable. We didn't administer the second dose but rang the vet and decided to skip it for a couple of days so the drug would clear her system. We then adminstered a half dose, which made her incontinent again so we stopped.
On Friday we changed drugs and, so far, she's been dry. She's also started coughing again so this one doesn't seem to be doing very much. We'll stick with it for a few days and see what happens.
- Location
- Cornwall , UK
Poor Holly and you both too , I feel for you on this journey x
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
I'm sorry that the diuretics were/are such a problem. Did they try spironolactone? My friend's dog with heart problems seems to tolerate that pretty well. And speaking as human who takes it, the first 1-2 weeks are pretty difficult (let's just say I don't go very far from home) but then it levels off and it's easier not to feel like you have to wee every 10 minutes. That may be completely different for a dog, but thought I'd mention it if helpful.
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
We haven't tried that yet. We started with furosemide which is normally very effective but Holly just didn't get on with it. We need to find an effective diuretic so I thinks its going to be trial and error for a few weeks. If we can get her breathing under control it will be a big step forward.
She wasn't bad this morning so we had a nice trip to the woods and a cafe which really perked her up. She's been rather low this evening with lots of heavy breathing and not much energy. The changes are very sudden and unpredictable.
Naya
Moderator
- Location
- Bristol, UK
Sorry Holly is still up and down. I hope you find a solution soon that helps.